Stuck

How many times have you declared that you have had enough? How many times have you vowed that you are no longer putting up with this behaviour and making a fresh start? How often have you put in place steps to depart and leave this confusing and twisted reality behind? We hear these assertive comments from time to time. We have subjected you to a sustained devaluation, provoked so many heightened emotional responses from you which has given us fuel. At times you did not know whether you were coming or going, your head swam and that dull ache in the centre of your forehead never seemed to diminish. You wondered who you could trust as you fought to establish what you believed was right against a backdrop of contradictions. From somewhere you mustered some strength, a bolt of fortitude sprang from the maelstrom and in that moment of clarity you knew it was time to go. This situation is not right surely? Nobody should be treated in this manner. Yes, it was the moment to depart.

Of course you could not do so without your parting speech. It was not borne out of spite or venom. Those are not watchwords that apply to you. Notwithstanding the horrendous treatment meted out against you, the repeated abuse and the incessant put downs, you still behaved with dignity and grace. There was little doubt that you wanted to lash out. You wanted to flail us with stinging words and some home truths, just in the same way we had used our acidic tongues and savage words to berate you, yet despite how much you wanted to speak to us in this manner you did not do so. Instead, demonstrating the empathy which attracted us to you all that time ago you explained how you still loved us. You fought back the tears as you explained that you loved us more than you did when we first became a couple and despite everything that has happened you still love us. You ought to have torn strips of us, levelling a lengthy charge sheet against us but you did not behave in this way. That is not who you are. You talked about all the wonderful traits we have and how you miss them, you continued to praise us even after everything that we had done to you. You stood there bearing the emotional and physical bruises and rather than lambast us for putting you in such a state you preferred to talk about the magical times we had together. You clearly had committed each of those occasions to your memory as you brought up each event and occurrence as the tears trickled down your cheeks. You explained how wonderful we made you feel, how you had never experienced anything like that before and you consequently truly believed you had found the one. You work through the golden period, talking about the trips we took, the days we spent together and the glittering and scintillating moments we created. We can see this is hurting you all the more yet still your selflessness continues. You are exhausted after the tortuous time you have been put through and yet still you only try to remember the good and thank us for those wonderful times. You tell us that although they lasted a few months, the memories of that time are seared into your mind and you will always treasure them. You explain that you will reflect on those memories and not what came to pass afterwards as you still prefer to think the best of us, despite everything we have subjected you to. Your nobility in behaving in this manner is most impressive and your admirable words continue to fuel us. You explain between sobs that you do not want to go but you have to. You do not want to leave everything that we have built up behind but if you do not do so then you will be destroyed. You apologise, yes you actually apologise that you have not been able to help us, to steer us away from the destructive and malevolent behaviour that has marred the latter months together. You explain how hard you have tried but admit you have been defeated. You express your desire for us to change and to seek help because you truly believe that we are a good person who just needs to seize on that goodness and allow it to shine. You tell us you have seen what we can do and achieve and you still want what is best for us. You stand there staring at us; some of your possessions already packed in the two suitcases which are waiting in the hallway. You tell us you will make arrangements with us to collect the remainder of your belongings once you have had a chance to think and breathe.

We rise from our seat and walk towards you. You are quietly sobbing and we take your hands in our hands and hold them in that tender manner you recall so well. The vicious squeezing that one day arrived out of nowhere is not in existence. Instead, we hold your hands and look you straight in the eye as we summon up a look we have practised before with others in the situation. The look begins as sorrow and then morphs into hope as we search your eyes looking for that flicker of flame once again through the tears. You hold our gaze as we keep searching and then we speak, our words soft and gentle, just as they were when we whispered into your ear as we lay next to you holding you late at night.

“I am sorry, I know this time I have to change. Please help me be the good person I know I can be, that I want to be. Something is wrong with me and I do not know what it is, but you can save me, you are the only one. Please do not leave me. I cannot survive without you. I need you. I want to make you happy again because someone as wonderful and as loving as you deserves it. I will get help but I know I can only do it with you at my side. Please, please stay.”

The short speech is delivered with true brilliance as I gather the right inflection in tone coupled with suitable contrite looks and mannerisms. I continue to look into your eyes as you let my words sink in. The moments pass and then the light flickers, that flame of hope sparks into life and I know your next words before you have even spoken them and I begin to give you that enticing and winning smile again. I know that you will stay. Again.

That gave me chills. Because once i got so desperate to “wake him up” i thought maybe if he sees me falling apart, if he sees how he hurt me maybe he will change. I seriously practiced our meltdown (STUIPD), planning to make him SEE (i sound pathetic). I practiced my words but that time never came and now i am so grateful it didnt. Instead i slowly left, i left with a broken heart BUT I LEFT.

You can do it. Make sure you understand it will be hard but it’s not impossible. Read every single thing HD has, his books, blogs, listen to his videos on YouTube. I literally fall asleep crying, listening or reading his material, it hurts but it wakes me up makes me strong and gives me courage to not go back.

On a somewhat lighter note but not really, I found a song that exemplifies the the thought process of a narcissist’s manipulated romantic partner/victim. I honestly wonder if the singer was writing about a narcissist in her own life, even if she didn’t have the label for it.

What happens in case when you do leave for good and the parting speech is a combination of directly confronting the narcissist with his PD, and demonstrating empathy & love, offering him (future) help when/if he decides to stop running away from himself?

Been here time and time again! I remember a utube video on how to fully get rid of a narc and in a nutshell it was loss of “hope”. When a narcissist sees you no longer have any hope for the relationship and are truely done they will vanish. Hope is a good thing but also a very dangerous thing. Sometjmes acceptance of what is is a much better option.

This was my reality, until one day it wasn’t. In the end I criticized and injured him brutally with my words. But it wasn’t to hurt him or get revenge… it was to ensure he didn’t have a reason to want to want to try to come back. It was to protect myself and my family. He still tries now and again and probobly always will, but now that I know his tactics ( thanks to HGs writings) I am armed with weaponry:)

It doesn’t hurt to read this one anymore. I read it with a logical mindset instead of feeling the pain caused by remembering the times it was me who caved and believed in the illusion. Again. And again. And again.

Yes, I definitely relate to this article. Been there, am there. I’m amazed, again on the accuracy of your insights, HG. I would say wonderful intuition you possess, however, I believe it is more of life experience and survival technique that you are able to have this knowledge. I feel rather foolish for having fell for it time after time.